Tim Canova going on TV against Wasserman Schultz

Tim Canova is on the air with television ads against Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Tim Canova is on the air.

The challenger to U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston in the Aug. 30 Democratic primary began television advertising on Sunday.

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The first ad, entitled "America," began running during the Sunday public affairs television shows that attract an audience that's especially interested and politics and likely to vote.

The 60-second spot starts and ends with Canova speaking directly to the camera. He explains that corporate interests have been able to "corrupt our government, because we the people don't show up to vote." Never mentioning Wasserman Schultz's name – but flashing an image across the screen while criticizing "career politicians" – he promises that "this insanity" can be stopped.

On Monday, Canova campaign spokeswoman Lourdes Diaz said, "Debate" would be added to the mix. It accuses Wasserman Schultz of ducking debates with Canova.

"Debate" comes in 30- and 60-second versions. They're designed to make Wasserman Schultz look bad for refusing to agree to debate Canova. They take a video clip in which Wasserman praises the idea of debates – for presidential candidates – and pair them with clips in which she avoids questions about whether she'll debate her own primary challenger.

Gamesmanship over debates is a constant in elections. Challengers always want to get the exposure and credibility that comes from appearing on the same stage as the incumbent, and incumbents rarely want to debate much, if ever, to avoid providing opportunities for their challengers.

TV advertising is expensive, and the Canova campaign said most of the spots would air on cable channels MSNBC, the news channel favored by Democrats, CNN, the middle-of-the-road news channel, and BET, a black-oriented channel.

Canova is able to afford TV advertising thanks to the massive amount of money raised for an outside candidate challenging an incumbent. And Wasserman Schultz isn't just any incumbent: she's South Florida's most prominent member of Congress and she also is chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

In the six months since Canova, of Hollywood, entered the race he's reported raising $2.5 million. Wasserman Schultz's midyear total will be known at the end of the week when candidates must file second quarter fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission.

Canova's fundraising has come almost entirely from online contributions, largely from fellow supporters of Bernie Sanders, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton. Many Sanders supporters believe Wasserman Schultz ran the DNC in a way that favored Clinton during the primaries, a charge she has repeatedly refuted.

"What's happened to America? We're a great, beautiful nation of immigrants, and now we want to build walls?

"We had a thriving middle class, and now many of us can't make ends meet.

"We're the United States of America. So why are we so divided?

"Because we've allowed corporate interests to corrupt our government, because we the people don't show up to vote. And when we don't vote we surrender our power and the same career politicians get elected. Then we wonder why Washington's broken.

"This insanity has got to stop. Together we can reclaim or democracy, and it's the reason I'm running for Congress…."

The 30- and 60-second versions of "Debate" focus on Wasserman Schultz.

The ad shows her talking about the importance of debates followed by clips of her repeatedly declining to say whether she'll debate Canova.

First, Wasserman Schultz is shown saying "it's important to have debates so that candidates get an opportunity to talk about their ideas."

An interviewer asks if she'd debate Canova. "I'm here to talk about the presidential election," Wasserman Schultz says, before turning away. More video follows in which she repeatedly declines to answer the debate question.